PUGET Sound has given Mathew de Kock’s Onamission Syndicate the best start it could hope for. The R120,000 CTS Ready To Run purchase is a five-time winner from 15 starts, with stakes approaching R450,000 earned in barely a year and half in training. There are plenty of seasoned owners who will tell you they’d rather own a sound horse with a big heart than a superstar with no legs, or a multi-million rand tealeaf. Puget Sound has given a group comprising dozens of small shareholders from around the world an opportunity to experience option one – and they’ve been smiling.

The shareholders include a varied bunch of race-loving patrons like Listed Purple Group CEO Charles Savage, who helped Mathew to devise the concept of mini-shares based on his successful Easy Equities share trading platform; vivacious Laura King from the Dubai Racing Channel, golfer Tom Buchanan, breeder/owner and these days successful hotelier Paulo Do Carmo and a few of the stable’s senior grooms. Laura King and company watched the race live on Tellytrack from Korea; Buchanan tweeted from Dubai; one unknown dude not involved in the syndicate was over the moon for backing it because a friend in the syndicate had told him to – it’s been a joyous ride for all involved and one owner tweeted to Mathew de Kock, “Mat, you must be in tears after this race!” Mathew later answered: “I am not, but if Puget Sound wins the Charity Mile I will be!” The son of Sail From Seattle has improved to such an extent that he is now a contender for a Gr2 race that’s normally up for the taking. Effective over a mile and with an iron will to win, this one may just let the success story become a fairytale. “We are delighted with Puget Sound.

He won his second race in the space of a week in which we had to retire Saint Etienne, another Onamission runner who has been very disappointing. Fortunately, with the way this syndicate is structured his failure didn’t cost the investors a lot of money and we’ll find them something new, hopefully another Puget Sound. It makes no sense persisting with a horse that doesn’t enjoy racing,” said Mathew.

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